Amalgamator.



PATENTED N 0V. 21, 1905.

z n m n N W H I m M mm T M T D AAMAH PHGH mw m P m s v QM w#% No. 805,090. PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905. 0. w. PATTEN. AMALGAMATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.20, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMALGAMATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed March 20, 1905. Serial No. 250,897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. PATTEN, of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Amalgamators, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to that class of devices known as amalgamators, in which crushed ore, sand, or other material is passed into contact with a bath of mercury, so that certain valuable metals which may be contained in the material will unite with the mercury. In devices of this character it has been customary to pass the material into a hopper at one end of a trough containing the mercury and to force the material below the surface of the mercury by various mechanical devices. It has also been customary to discharge water into the hopper or into the trough adjacent the hopper end, so that the waste material will be Washed away by the flowing water. As a result of my experiments with devices of this character I have found that if the material is wet before or as it is passed into the mercury it is much more likely to sink in the mercury and lodge on the bottom of the holding-trough than if it is dry, and also that if it is not removed from contact with the mercury immediately after it has been held in contact therewith a sufficient length of time for amalgamating purposes the particles of the material are liable to become coated therewith and to become so heavy that the flowing water will not remove them.

My invention has for its object to provide a device of this character in which the material which is passed therethrough may be effectively submerged and broken up, so that the mercury will have access to the difi'erent particles thereof, and to provide means whereby the material may be passed while in a dry state through the mercury, and the waste material may be discharged from the trough immediately thereafter. I accomplish this object by the means shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an amalgamator made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof with the hopper removed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the submerging paddle-wheels. Figs.

5 and 6 are detail views of one of the spraying-pipes.

A trough a of suitable length and width is provided which is adapted to contain a quantity of mercury b, as indicated in Fig. 3. The bottom of the tank is formed to provide a horizontal portion a, which extends throughout approximately half its length, and a pit a which extends throughout the other portion. A weir a is formed at the opposite end of the trough from the pit a", and a sluiceway a is arranged adjacent thereto. A hopper c is connected to one end of the trough, said hopper having a narrow transversely-extending discharge slot 0' directly over a feedwheel d, which is adapted to rotate within the surrounding casing. A revolving screen 0 is preferably journaled over the upper end of the hopper, although the use of a screen of any form in this relation forms no part of my invention and is Well known in the art. Two parallel shafts f and g,having gears f g at their ends, are journaled in the sides of the trough adjacent each other and over the pit (6 an intermediate gear as being provided, so that said shafts f and Q will rotate in the same direction. A drum it, having blades it, is mounted on the shaft f and extends the entire width of the trough, and a drum 7,, having blades i, is mounted on the shaft g,said drumz' being identical in construction to drum h. The drum h is located directly beneath the feedwheel d, adjacent the end of the trough, as shown in Fig. 3. The blades of said drums are each provided with two rows of perforations 2, which are regularly arranged so that each perforation in either row of one blade is opposite the middle of the space between two adjacent perforations in the corresponding row of the next blade. The perforations of either row of one blade are also opposite the middle of the spaces between the perforations of the other row of the same blade. A gear 6! is provided on the shaft of feed-wheel d, which meshes with gear f, so that said wheel and drums will rotate together. Two or more spraying-pipes j and it extend transversely of the trough over the horizontal portion a of its bottom, the pipe f being arranged adjacent the drum c'. Said spraying-pipes are each provided with three parallel rows of jet orifices 0, each orifice in each row being located opposite a space between two orifices in the other rows, as shown in Fig. 6. Each pipe 7' It is connected to a main water-supply pipe m by means of swivel-joints j is, and

handles k are connected to said pipes, so that they may be rotated conveniently to direct the jets in different directions.

The feed-wheel d and drums i1 and e' are rotated slowly in the direction of the arrows in Fig, 3, and the material to be acted upon is placed in a dry state in the screen .0, the finer portion thereof being discharged into the hopper 0, so that it falls into the pockets of feed- Wheel OZ, which latter as it rotates will discharge the material onto the drum h. The material will then fall into the compartments formed by the blades on the surface of drum lb and then onto the surface of the mercury, and then it will be pressed below'the surface of the mercury by the drums h and '5 successively. The perforations p in the blades of the drums permit a portion of the sand or fine material to pass through the blades from one blade-compartment to the next; but as the perforations in one blade are opposite imperforate portions of the next blade it will ordinarily be retained in the second compartment until it has been passed beneath the drum and is again free to rise to the surface of the mercury. The stirring action on the material thus induced has the effect of breaking up the portions of the material, which collects in small masses, and bringing the mercury into more intimate contact with all'of the particles thereof. The circulation of the mercury through the blade perforations with the material aids in accomplishing a more nearly thorough mixing,

of the mercury with the'material without retarding the passage of the material therethrough to too great an extent. As soon as the material is discharged beyond the wheel 2' unless it is almost immediately removed it 'will gather into a mass adjacent the wheel, and the portion thereof which will become submerged in the mercury may become coated therewith and sink to the bottom of the trough or combine with the mercury in a pasty mass. This difliculty is entirely obviated by means of the sprayer-pipe j, the jets of water from which may be directed so as to wash the-material over the surface of the mercury away from the drum 2' as soon as it passes beneath this drum. The action of the water-jets from the pipe j is materially assisted by the jets from pipe 70, they together acting to wash the waste material over the weir a into the sluiceway a before the particles thereof become coated with the mercury. This action is facilitated by directing the water-jets in diflerent directions. The passage of the material over thesurface of the mercury from drum i to the end of the trough afiords opportunity for'the metal still carried by the material to unite with the mercury. The water-jets by striking the material as it comes to the surface of the mercury also act to break up remaining masses or lumps thereof and again force the particles below the surface of the mercury, so as to bringthem into more intimate contact therewith.

So far as my invention is concerned the number of submerging-drums employed is immaterial and will depend upon conditions; but the mercury-containing portion of the trough should extend a substantial distance'beyond the last submerging-drum, in which the material may be thoroughly washed and acted means for discharging a series of water-jets" onto the surface of the mercury between said weir and said drums, and adjacent the latter,

substantially as described.

2. An amalgamator comprising an elongated mercury-containing trough having a shallow portion of substantially uniform depth, and having a weir at the discharge end of saidshallow portion, and a pit of greater depth at the opposite end thereof, one or more submerging-drums in said pit, and means for discharging a series of water-jets onto the surface of the mercury between the weir and said drums, substantially as described.

3. An amalgamator comprising an elongated 'mercurycontaining trough having a shallow portion of substantially uniform depth, and having a weir at the discharge end of said shallow portion, and a pit of greater depth at the opposite end thereof, one or more submerging-drums in said pit, and a rotatable watersupplying, pipe extending transversely of said trough having a series of jetorifices therein, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the-presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OHARLES W. PATTEN.

Witnesses:

F. H. SEARS, GEORGE E. PHILLIPS. 

